Grand Kalle & L'African Jazz

Joseph Kabasele Tshamala was born 1930, in Matadi, Zaire. Considered as the father of modern Zairean music, Kalle's earliest musical experiences were as a member of the church choir in his home town of Matadi. Moving to Kinshasa in 1950, he worked with Orchestre De Tendence Congolaise, a band that specialized in acoustic polka and mazurka rhythms, derived from records brought to the country by colonial settlers.

In 1953, keen to develop a genuinely Congolese style, he formed African Jazz, based on the Afro-Cuban tradition and in particular the rumba, samba and cha cha, all played in a distinctively Congolese fashion.

African Jazz and later African Team spanned the era from the Belgian colony of the late 1950's to the Independence movement of the mid '60's. Tino Baroza was the lead guitarist (with his brother Dicky on rhythm), but eventually it was Nicolas Kassanda wa Mikalayi, and his brother Mwamba Dechaud which became the instrumental focus. They pioneered the mi-solo guitar style which is the key characteristic of all Congolese pop. The brothers' sympathy & intuition led to a "one-mind" approach that fed riffs back and forth between them.

African Jazz was the nursery for a whole sound which led to a great studio band, Orchestre Rock-a-Mambo.that included a rotating roster of Kalle's performers, including Kabasele himself. Over the years, the group included many of the future stars of Zairean music, including Dr. Nico and Tabu Ley, and provided a training ground for the next generation of Zairean musicians.

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